Surfactants (or surface active agents) are compounds that lower the surface tension of a liquid, the interfacial tension between two liquids, or the interfacial tension between a liquid and a solid. Surfactants function as cleaning, wetting, dispersing, emulsifying, foaming, and anti-foaming agents in numerous practical applications and products. Accordingly, surfactants are present in detergents and other cleaning products, cosmetics, and are used in a wide variety of industrial processes.
Because of the wide use of surfactants, there is a need for surfactants that are rapidly biodegradable, nontoxic, hard water tolerant, and do not precipitate or gel over a wide range of concentrations and temperatures.